Everyman Approach

As reigning
UFC bantamweight champion and one of the top pound-for-pound
fighters in mixed martial arts, the 26-year-old Tucson, Ariz.,
native has indulged in little of the glitz, glamor an excess that
has come to define many of his peers. At least outwardly, Cruz
seems to have a firm grip on his reality and the fleeting nature of
a career in MMA.

“You’re always one fight away from being forgotten,” he says. “The
only thing people remember is your last fight. It’s very hard to go
out there and just buy all kinds of stuff, be driving this awesome
car, have all kinds of stuff going on and have all kinds of bills.
I’d rather just keep my life the way it is [and] live very cheap.
That way, God forbid, [if] I bust my eye socket and can’t fight for
a year, I don’t have a stack full of bills I’ve got to pay without
income coming in.

“I really don’t change my life that much,” Cruz adds. “I live in
the gym. I don’t do anything else. It’s my life. The only thing
that’s changed is I get recognized a little bit more because I’m
fighting on the biggest stage on the planet.”

Cruz (18-1, 1-0 UFC) will defend his crown against the once-beaten
Demetrious
Johnson in the UFC
Live 6 main event on Saturday at the Verizon Center in
Washington, D.C. An undersized bantamweight, the 5-foot-3 “Mighty
Mouse” secured his shot at the 135-pound title with his unanimous
decision victory over former champion Miguel
Torres at UFC 130 in May. Johnson, a Matt Hume
protégé, has Cruz’s undivided attention.

“What’s challenging about him is his mindset,” he says. “He’s got a
big heart. He’s got great cardio. He’s got good speed and a good
rhythm; he kind of moves a certain way. Other fighters know what I
mean. You either fight with a rhythm, or you fight kind of
flat-footed and pick and choose when you’re going to throw. He
fights off of rhythm. Those are some of the things I’ll have to
adjust to as the fight goes on and what I’ve been preparing
throughout this camp.”

Moreover, champion and challenger share a certain kinship.

“He’s considered an underdog, and I know how that feels,” Cruz
says. “I came up very similar [to] him early in my career, when I
was working a full-time job and trying to juggle that at the same
time as my fight career. You have all these naysayers who say, ‘You
can’t do it. You can’t beat so and so.’ I went out there and did
it. It kind of lights a fire under you to hear that you’re an
underdog. I just understand that’s something he brings to the table
and is on his mind all the time.”

Cruz will enter the cage with plenty of momentum on his side,
including a career-best nine-fight winning streak. The
Alliance MMA representative last appeared at UFC 132 in July,
when he avenged the only defeat of his career and turned away
former
WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber
by unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Beating “The California Kid” was a significant personal
accomplishment for Cruz but not one for which he plans to
settle.

Demetrious Johnson File Photo

Johnson is 2-0 in the UFC.

“My career is bigger than just beating Faber,” he
says. “There [are] more goals that I have past that. That was more
of something I felt like I kind of needed to do for myself to kind
of show the world that I was improving.”

“It was real easy getting up for this fight, setting new goals for
myself and being prepared for Demetrious,” he says. “He’s got a lot
of things that he’s good at. He’s got a lot of different tools he
brings to the table. It’s an exciting fight, and I’m prepared for
it.”

Leading into the Cruz-Faber rematch three months ago, the two men
openly shared their dislike for one another. The barbs flew. Cruz
admits the fight with Johnson carries no such dynamic.

“We haven’t had any issues,” he says. “I think we respect each
other as fighters, but, needless to say, it doesn’t mean we’re not
going to go in there and try and punch each other’s faces in. It’s
just kind of the game, and we understand that. You have a choice
going into the fight. You can either get along with the person and
fight him anyways, or you can butt heads and fight him anyways. For
me, I have no issue with Demetrious. I’m just going to go in there
and do what I do and fight my fight.”

Despite his considerable success, Cruz has his critics. They point
to his lack of offensive firepower and the fact that he has never
actually finished under the Zuffa LLC banner, instead relying on
his relentless lateral movement and unorthodox strikes, as he darts
in, darts out, scores and avoids damage. As the shine of fame’s
spotlight intensifies, Cruz leans more and more on his experience,
his training and an unwavering belief in himself.

“I wouldn’t say you ever get used to having your face on posters
and all that stuff,” he says. “What you get used to is dealing with
the media, dealing with the hype, dealing with the trash talking on
Twitter and Facebook and all that crap. That’s what you get used
to, and you get used to being in the big show. There’s a lot of
pressure that comes with it. My experience is something that helps
me through these fights, and it’s something that gives me a lot of
confidence.

“

You’re always one fight
away from being forgotten.
The only thing people
remember is your last fight.

”

-- Dominick Cruz, UFC 135-pound
champ

“What you learn is that you’re your own worst enemy,” Cruz adds.
“It’s all about how you take it yourself. It’s all about how you
visualize things. It’s all about how you decide to handle each
experience that comes towards you. I know when I’m in awesome shape
[that] I’ll never get tired no matter how many rounds I go. That
gives me the confidence I need to go in and main event a card and
know that I’m going to put on a show and I’ll never have a boring
fight, because I’m ready.”

Cruz, who has never been defeated as a bantamweight, puts a premium
on perspective.

“I’m in the one percentile in the entire world that gets to do a
job that I love, and, on top of that, I get to do it in front of
millions of people,” he says. “The trick for me is just to know
that I’m out there having fun. When I’m training every day, in the
grind in practice, doing two- and three-a-days, getting the crap
beat out of me by a new guy every single round, that’s when it
sucks. That’s when I’m nervous to come [in and] train every day.
That’s when I’m miserable.

“When it’s fight time,” Cruz adds, “it’s fun time, and it’s time to
go out there and put on a show and have fun.”